recovery
by ResX
Summary: Hawkfrost is dead, but the battle is far from over for Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight and Leafpool. With the son of Tigerstar receiving visions and losing his grasp on his own sanity, Squirrelflight fighting with the title of "helpless mate" for the first time and Leafpool's past leading her to the hardest decision in her life, sometimes pace is not all it's cracked up to be. [HIATUS]
1. no one's ever really gone

**no one's ever really gone.**

* * *

**A/N: The following takes place directly following the end of Sunset. Due to potential copyright conflicts, I have refrained from using any excerpts directly.**

* * *

The four cats were silent for a couple of moments, taking the medicine cat's words in before Leafpool turned back to her sister and father, signaling that she was ready to head back to camp. "I'll need to take you in," she said to Firestar, helping hold his other side, "I know you won't like it, but even though the injuries don't seem to be serious, I'll need to treat them to make sure they don't get infected."

"Don'tーerghーbe ridiculous. I'm j-just fine." murmured Firestar, obviously trying to hide how much pain he was clearly in. Nobody was convinced, though. "A likely story," said Squirrelflight, rolling her eyes teasingly, "Let's just get home. I'm starving! Come on, Bramble…"

She trailed off and Leafpool noticed she had abandoned her post while she stared at Brambleclaw, who hadn't moved at all. "Brambleclaw?" she asked again, this time her worry coming out in the question.

Leafpool looked back as well and she immediately knew he was in shock. His breathing was so quick and so loud that she could hear it from where she stood, he was shaking ever so slightly from left to right and his eyes jumped around in their sockets as they slowly lost focus on the world around them. It was a natural response to death, Cinderpelt had said, yet Leafpool was on the edge on how sudden the symptoms had become.

She was about to tell Squirrelflight to stay calm when Brambleclaw's eyes abruptly rolled back and he collapsed to the ground.

"Brambleclaw!" shouted Squirrelflight, abandoning Firestar to prod and shake her fallen mate, who lay in a heap of brown fur. Leafpool staggered at the sudden shifting of weight, then gently lay her father down next to an oak tree. She rushed to her fearful sister, pulling her off Brambleclaw.

"Stay back," she said, surprising herself with the calmness in her voice. She lightly placed a paw on his chest and thanked StarClan she felt a rise and fall. "He's alive, but we need to keep him stable."

She leaned down to his ear. "Brambleclaw, can you hear me?"

His eyes suddenly flung open, causing Leafpool to leap back in surprise and unsheath her claws.

Terror pulsed through her veins as Brambleclaw hoisted himself to his paws, his limbs twitching recklessly as his eyes focused on her sister then back to her. In the course of a couple of seconds, Brambleclaw had drastically changed from the petrified young tom coping with the trauma of killing his own brother to a wild-eyed, menacing tom, spit frothing at the mouth and eyes sporting a color about ten shades darker.

_What's happened to him!?_

Brambleclaw began to half-walk, half-drag himself towards Leafpool, claws dragging on the ground beneath him. A strange, creepy smile formed on his face as he stared at Leafpool right between the eyes.

"pєαcє hαs cσmє, чσu sαч?" snarled Brambleclaw in a voice so low, so devilish that Leafpool had to suppress a sudden shiver. He laughed, wheezing as if he had aged countless years in the seconds he was unconscious. "чσu cαn sαч thαt αll чσu wαnt. stαrclαn cαn tєll чσu thαt αll thєч wαnt. вut í knσw thαt thís ísn't σvєr. чσu cαn't cαll thє єnd σf thє fírst вαttlє thє єnd σf α wαr, dєαr lєαfpσσl. nσt untíl rєvєngє dínєs σn íts víctíms. αnd ¢σиgяαтυℓαтισиѕ. уσυ'яє иєχт ιи ℓιиє."

Leafpool felt Squirrelflight quiver with horror behind her, whispering "This isn't you, this isn't you, this isn't you," she said over and over again as if he would magically go back to normal. Leafpool stood her ground somehow, making fearful eye contact with Brambleclaw as his malicious foreshadowing continued.

"thís ísn't σvєr," growled Brambleclaw, "í wíll rєturn wíth αn αrmч grєαtєr thαn чσu cαn pσssíвlч cσncєívє. í wíll rєígn dєstructíσn upσn thєsє clαns. í wíll вríng єtєrnαl tσrturє σn чσu αnd єvєrчσnє чσu cαn pσssíвlч lσvє. í wíll dєstrσч чσu, αnd rєvєngє wíll вє mínє." The words rang ominously in Leafpool's ears as she slowly began to cower next to her sister. "lєt ít вє hєαrd frσm thє mσuntαíns αnd αll thrσugh thє fσrєst. thís ísn't σvєr. í wíll rєturn."

In the ensuing moments, Brambleclaw began to lose consciousness again, and by the time he stopped speaking, he collapsed for a second time.

The three cats were silent, Squirrelflight and Leafpool speechlessly staring at each other while Firestar, who had heard the entire encounter, had his eyes closed, refusing to show his emotional standpoint.

"Firestar!" yowled a voice suddenly from within the thicket. When Leafpool turned, she saw Sandstorm racing towards them, followed quickly by Cloudtail, Brackenfur, Spiderleg, and Ashfur. Immediately, Sandstorm launched herself onto her mate, covering him in licks. Firestar purred through the attack, nuzzling her affectionately.

"I told you that this was a trap. I told you this was dangerous. But do you ever listen? Nooo," she whispered, closing her eyes and pressing her nose to his. While the two mates embraced, Brackenfur and Cloudtail had began investigating the scene and turned to the two sisters after poking around the erected wire trap.

"What happened? Who did this?" snarled Cloudtail, putting the pieces together that this was almost how his leader, and uncle nonetheless, was killed. Leafpool noticed Squirrelflight was still shaking, so she gestured for her to lay down while she walked towards the river. "It was Hawkfrost," she said, "He set this up to kill Firestar, but Brambleclaw killed him."

Leafpool noticed Ashfur flinch out of the corner of her eye when she said this.

"Speaking of that," said Brackenfur, gesturing to the unconscious body of Brambleclaw where Squirrelflight lay pressed atop him, "What happened to him?"

Leafpool shrugged, feeling fear surge through her veins as she looked at her sister's unmoving beloved. "I really don't know. I've never seen these symptoms before, but it seems like it stems from shock or trauma. I know it's horrible enough to lose a sibling but to be forced to kill them?"

Brackenfur nodded solemnly. Leafpool reasoned he was thinking of Cinderpelt.

She decided to keep what happened in the moments before their arrival quiet for now. She would have to figure that out herself. "Let's get them back to camp," she said, taking control of this crisis, "Cloudtail, we're gonna need water for Brambleclaw. Get some moss and soak it thoroughly. Sandstorm, you and Ashfur help carry Firestar. Brackenfur, watch the path to camp. It doesn't look like it, but we don't want to be jumped in case RiverClan is in on this too. I'll stay behind," Leafpool looked at her sister, sobbing quietly yet violently into Brambleclaw, "I may take a couple of minutes."

As the four cats dispersed, Leafpool sat and took a breath, trying to calm the waves of terror in her belly. A lot of possibilities were flowing through her head, but she was slowly leaning towards the idea that his body was being possessed by a third party.

And there was only one cat who could and would be possibly interested enough to do that to him.

Though she was lucky enough to never need to face him, she had seen enough visions and heard enough stories for her to not shake the thought that he would return to get his revenge if his sons couldn't do it for him.

Whatever the case, Leafpool feared that Tigerstar wasn't done yet.

* * *

**So this here I wrote about 9 months ago. It's the beginning of an interim story taking place between Sunset and Power of Three.**

**I really don't know if I'll continue this, but if I do, prepare for ****over-dramatizations**** of the events in between, including Leafpool's conception in the snow.**

**That's gonna be fun to write.**

**So let me know if I should continue this. I don't plan to update this as regularly as "thoughts and words," because I plan on starting a new project.**

**And if you're a fan of my works, you're gonna love it...**

**Best,**

**~Res**


	2. this is not your fight

**this is not your fight**

It was too quiet.

Squirrelflight shifted uncomfortably in her nest, flipping from side to side as she tried to work herself down into sleep.

She could hear the blood pumping through her veins. She could smell the poignant aroma of the herb pile she was next too.

But the night was too cold, too quiet.

She had never quite felt this lonely before.

The medicine den was packed full that night. Leafpool was shoved to the back of her den as Sandstorm and Squirrelfight camped in with Firestar and Brambleclaw. Firestar was recovering from the fox trap wounds quite well, thank StarClan, but it would take a long time for him to be well enough for Leafpool to set him free.

As for Brambleclaw…

Her legs slowly began to quiver in anxiety as she looked at the bracken tom. Ever since the episode where something...unexplainable happened to him, he hadn't moved a muscle. Though the ThunderClan leader was of much higher priority, both of the sisters were quite concerned about Brambleclaw's health.

Meanwhile, life had very slowly began to settle back into his routine outside this den. Brackenfur had been appointed interim leader in both cats' absence, and so far, he was doing admirably in keeping the Clan calm, with Sandstorm taking over the majority of the deputy duties for the time being.

But there was still a significant serving of fear and paranoia that was getting passed around, too. There were several visits to the impaired leader in the succeeding days, of which Leafpool had to step in and bottleneck, many injuries which Leafpool had to send to Brightheart whenever she needed sleep or to check on her two patients and and getting more snippy and cranky, likely with the stress of trying to handle ThunderClan's most vital lives in balance with her own life.

Squirrelflight glanced over at her sister, passed out on her own nest. She wished she could arrange for her to have a day off, but with Cinderpelt's death being too near tonight for anyone's liking, she figured she would violently refuse if she was put on leave for a day.

Taking great care not to prod awake any of her parents, she meticulously stepped around the sleeping bodies and made her way to Brambleclaw, awkwardly settling herself down beside him.

He looked so quiet. So peaceful.

Squirrelflight held back a sniffle as she drew her white forepaw along Brambleclaw's face.

_I wish I could help you._

After staring at him hopelessly for another couple minutes, she sighed, giving in. Squirrelflight clumsily got up into standing and prepared herself as best she could for the rest of her sleepless night.

But as she prepared to sneak around her parents again, she heard a rustle.

She paused.

It happened again.

Squirrelflight whirled around to see Brambleclaw twitching in his nest with his claws now fully unsheathed.

Her heart soared.

_Is he waking up?_

She snuck back and shook Brambleclaw vigorously "Brambleclaw!" she hissed, "Can you hear me?"

Suddenly, his forepaw swung upwards and raked against the she-cat's ear, causing her to hiss in pain.

She turned back with a harsh glare, but felt it melt away as she saw Brambleclaw still in comatose.

Now she was really scared. If he was dreaming...what could it possibly be about?

She needed to wake him up. Now.

Squirrelflight gripped his flank and shook him as hard as she possibly could. At this point, she couldn't care less about her parents waking. She knew that Brambleclaw was in danger.

_Wake up, damnit!_

But her adrenaline could fuel her tired body for so long, and she felt exhausted ire take over.

She only stopped herself when she actually started beating him harshly in the chest.

Part of her wished she had done that a long time ago, but the other part stopped her from getting too distracted.

Now, all she could do was stare.

Never in her life had she felt so hopeless.

_And we just forgave each other! _

And to her overbearing irritation with herself, tears pooled in her eyes as she tried to convince herself she wasn't out of options.

But what else could she do?

StarClan, did she hate being in this situation, being stuck on the outside of a situation that the cat she loved was trapped in. It scared her in ways that she never really could have thought possible.

She found herself settling down on top of Brambleclaw, setting her head down on his chest.

Praying.

Because that was the only thing she could do now.

And she never felt so alone because of it.

* * *

She woke to black.

Not darkness. Not unconsciousness.

Black.

It was all she could see. She couldn't see her paws, she couldn't see her surroundings. All she could see was black.

But she felt the sharp chills when she felt breathing along her nape.

"ωну σ уσυ вσтнєя σмιиg нєяє?"

It was Brambleclaw.

No, that wasn't him. It was whoever...possessed him. And that's what got her attention.

She felt her jaw open wide to shout some sharp, threatening retort, but the blackness flooded her mouth and choked out anything she could possibly say.

_Brambleclaw, where are you?_

"stσp trчíng."

"_NO!_" she shouted silently, "_NO!_"

Then she felt something different.

The sensation of fur brushing against fur.

"Squirrelflight?"

Brambleclaw.

"_Brambleclaw, it's me!_" she screamed silently, "I'm right next to you!"

"Where are you?" His voice was scared. She had never heard him this terrified before. "I can't see you! Where are you?!"

"_I'M RIGHT HERE!_"

"WHY?!"

That shut Squirrelflight up for good.

"WHY FATHER?!" WHY ME?! WHY-"

.

.

.

Silence.

Brambleclaw was gone.

She was consumed by blackness once again.

In the impending moments of silence, she said many things. So many things. Some threats, some pleadings, all unheard by anyone, thus unheard by herself.

But the voice remained.

And as she relapsed into consciousness, the voice haunted her again.

"тнιѕ ιѕ иσт уσυя fιgнт."

* * *

.

.

.

.

.

"SQUIRRELFLIGHT!"

She jolted awake, now a snotty mess of sweat and tears.

"What happened?!" demanded Leafpool, "I felt something horrible, and then I heard this voice and…"

Squirrelflight flailed around, looking erratically from the concerned look on her parents' faces to her fearful, overworked sister.

"We've lost him," she said, sobbing, "We've lost him, and there's nothing we can do."

* * *

**See, this is the issue with continuing projects you started a half-year ago. You forget the direction of the actual storyline and you come up with ramble chapters like this.**

**I'm sorry if this chapter is garbage, but I had a sudden urge about two hours ago to write the second chapter and one thing just led to another, which is, in my opinion, the worst way you can write a story.**

**I at least hope you still find this element of the story interesting. Squirrelflight is great and all, but I think she does too much. She deserves to be explored when she is in a state of true helplessness.**

**Again, thanks for reading, and please accept my apologies if you want one for the quality of this chapter.**

**Best,**

**~Res**


End file.
